Container and method of making same



Aug. 13, 1968 G. RUSSELL 3,396,896

CONTAINER AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Aug. 16, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR,

ATTORNEYS DEA/l5 GALLAGHER RUSSELL WM 4M Aug. 13, 1968 D. G. RUSSELLCONTAINER AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 16. 1967FIG. '2.

INVENTOR, 051m GALLAGHERRUSSELL ATTORN EYS Aug. 13, 1968 0. G. RUSSELLCONTAINER AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 16, 1967R O T N E V N DEN/5 GALLAGHER RUSSELL ATTORNEYS Aug. 13, 1968 D. G.RUSSELL CONTAINER AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME 4 Sheets-Sheet 4' Filed Aug.16, 19

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ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,396,896 CONTAINER AND METHOD OF MAKINGSAME Denis Gallagher Russell, 4 Anastasia Place, 16 Scott St.,

Germiston, Transvaal, Republic of South Africa Filed Aug. 16, 1967, Ser.No. 661,060

Claims priority, application Republic of South Africa, Aug. 19, 1966,4,986/ 66; Aug. 19, 1966, 4,985/ 66 Claims. (Cl. 229-23) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE This invention provides for the premanufacture of cardboardpanels and timber panels or timber-containing panels, coats of contactadhesive being provided on the panels to permit their being assembledsubsequently to form containers.

This invention relates to the manufacture of boxes or containers for thepacking of agricultural produce such as fruit, tomatoes, and the like.

At present, panels and staves of timber are provided, and these are madeinto boxes or containers by agricultural producers as and when required,for the packaging of agricultural produce. The applicant believes thatpanels in accordance with his invention, can also be used by theagricultural producer for the manufacture of his containers at the timewhen packaging is to take place, but that the containers so made Will bemore economical than boxes or containers presently in use.

According to the invention, there is provided a container which includesa cardboard composite panel comprising a floor part and front and rearside walls integral therewith, and a pair of longitudinally spaced endwall panels which include at least some timber for stiffness to permitstacking of loaded containers, the said floor part and the said sidewalls of the composite panel adhering to the end walls by means ofcontact adhesive.

The adhesion of the end wall panels to the floor part and to the saidside walls may be by the contact'adhesive being provided in coats priorto assembly on at least three peripheral faces of the side walls and onthe mating faces of the floor part and the said side walls.

The adhesion of the end wall panels to the floor part and to the saidside walls may include having fold-over tabs at the ends of the sidefloor part and the said side walls, and by the contact adhesive beingprovided in coats prior to assembly on the said tabs and on the outerside faces of the end walls, said tabs adhering to the outer side facesof the end walls.

The front and rear side walls may have integral with them front and reartop longitudinal strips adhering by contact adhesive to the upper facesat the ends of the end walls. The top longitudinal strips may beprovided with fold-over tabs secured by contact adhesive to the outerside faces of the end walls.

An end wall panel may include a peripheral timber framework and at leastone side panel secured thereto. The end wall panel may include aperipheral timber framework sandwiched between side panels.

Further according to the invention, a method of manufacturing containersincludes the step of manufacturing composite panels comprising a floorpanel and front and rear side walls, and end wall panels which includeat least some timber, of providing the said panels with "ice coatedregions of contact adhesive, and of subsequently assembling the saidpanels to form containers as described.

The invention will now be described by way of example, with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which different types of containers areshown.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 shows an oblique side view of a two-compartment container;

FIGURE 2 shows a development of the composite panel of the containershown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 shows an isometric view of an end wall panel for the containerof FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 shows an isometric view of an end wall panel of specialconstruction;

FIGURE 5 shows an isometric view of the panel of FIGURE 4 whendisassembled;

FIGURE 6 shows an oblique end view of a tray-type container;

FIGURE 7 shows an oblique end view of a deep box; and

FIGURE 8 shows a development of a composite panel for the tray and deepbox of FIGURES 6 and 7.

Referring to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, reference numeral 10 refers to acontainer having end wall panels 12 and 14, and a partition panel 16disposed between the end wall panels. It includes further a compositepanel of cardboard, generally indicated by reference numeral 18. (Seealso FIGURE 2.) This composite panel 18 is made up of rear and frontside panels 18.1 and 18.2 and floor panel 18.3.

Referring to FIGURE 2, the panel 18, when being assembled to form partof a container, folds along fold or crease lines 20.1 and 20.2, betweenthe floor panel 18.3 and the side panels 18.1 and 18.2. The side panels18.1, 18.2, and floor panel 18.3 have fold-over tabs 22.1, 22.2, and22.3 respectively at their ends. In assembly, these tabs are folded overonto the end wall panels 12 and 14, the tabs folding along fold lines22.4 and 22.5. The panel 18 is provided with contact adhesive coatsalong regions 24, 26 and 28.

The end wall panels 12 and 14, and the partition panel 16 are providedwith contact adhesive coats along their peripheral faces, being endfaces 12.1, 14.1, and 16.1, and lower faces 12.2, 14.2, and 16.2. (SeeFIGURES l and 3.) The end wall panels are further provided with sidecoats 12.3 and 14.3 along their outer side faces to co-operate with thefold-over tabs 22.1, 22.2, and 22.3.

Those portions 24.1 and 28.1 of the contact adhesive coats 24 and 28co-operate with the coated faces 14.1 and 14.2 of the end wall panels.The portions 24.3 and 28.3 of the coats (i.e., on the tabs) co-operatewith the side coats 14.3 on the sides of the end wall panels 14.

The end wall panels 12 and 14 and the partition panel 16 may be whollyor partly of timber. A construction in which these panels 'are partly oftimber will be described more fully hereafter.

In use, panels such as 12, 14, 16, and 18 are suitably coated withcontact adhesive as shown, and are then dispatched in unassembled formto the user. The user, when he requires the containers, will assemblethe panels into container form, as shown for example in FIGURE 1. Insuch assembly the coated faces of the various panels are brought intoregistration and pressure is applied. The panels then stick together atthose regions and the container is firm and strong. If desired ornecessary, the contact adhesive coats may be activated immediately priorto use by wiping with a solvent. This activationmay be necessary ifassembly takes place a long time after coatmg.

After a container has been filled with produce, a cover panel is fixedon top by convenient means permitting opening for inspection of thecontents.

Different types of panels will be provided for different types ofcontainers.

Referring now to FIGURES 4 and 5 of the drawings, there is shown analternative end wall panel, partly of timber. Reference numeral 30refers to an end wall panel comprising a peripheral timber framework,generally indicated by 32, and side panels 34. The timber frameworkcomprises upper and lower longitudinal members 36 and I 38, and frontand rear uprightmembers 40 and42. The longitudinal and upright membersmay be secured together, such as by staples,nails or adhesive, prior tothe attachment of the side panels 34. But if desired, they may be heldtogether merely by the side panels 34 when in position. These sidepanels may be of cardboard, corrugated or plain, of kraft, or ofsynthetic plastic sheet material which may be translucent ortransparent. p

The framework and side panels are shown having coats of adhesive alongregions 44 and 46 for securing them together. This adhesive need notnecessarily be a contact adhesive.

In use, the panel may be used in the place of timber panels in themaking of containers for example, for agricultural produce. Accordingly,these panels may be used \as end wall panels and partition panels in themanufacture of containers, as described.

As abovementioned, different types of containers can be made inaccordance with the invention.

Referring now to FIGURES 6, 7, and 8 of the drawings, there are shown ashallow tray-type container in FIGURE 6, and a deep box in FIGURE .7.

The tray container 50 of FIGURE 6 has a composite panel 18.6 similar tothe composite panel for FIGURES 1 and 2, except that it has no tabs for,oo-operating with side coats, such as 14.3, on the end wall panels, andexcept that it has also top longitudinal strips 18.64. It has rear andfront panels 18.61 and 18.62 corresponding to the panels 18.1 and 18.2of FIGURES 1 and 2. .It has a floor panel 18.63 corresponding to thefloor panel 18.3

of FIGURES 1 and 2. It also has adhesive coats corresponding to 2-4.1and 28.1 for adhering to the end wall panels 14. This composite panel18.6 looks very much like the composite panel 18.7 of FIGURE 7, exceptthat panel 18.6 has no tabs 22.71, 22.72, 22.73, and 18.741.Furthermore, the side walls 18.61 and 18.62 are of'course shallower thanthe side walls 18.71 and 18.72.

In addition, the composite panel 18.6 has front and rear toplongitudinal strips 18.64 secured by contact adhesive to the upper facesof the end wall panels 14 by contact adhesive coats 14.4. These coatsor. others corresponding thereto are shown in greater detail in FIG-URES 3 and 4.

Referring now to FIGURE 7, there is shown a deep box 52 somewhat similarin construction to that of the tray 50 shown in FIGURE6, except thattabs are provided at the ends of the various panels constituting thecomposite panel shown indeveloped form in FIGURE 8. The container 52 ofFIG. 7 may have end wall panels 14 or 30 of FIGURES 4 and 5construction.

The rear and front panels 18.71 and 18.72 of this embodiment correspondto the rear and front panels 18.1

and 18.2 of the FIGURES 1 and 2 embodiment. This embodiment also hastabs 22.71 and 22.73 corresponding to the tabs 22.1 and 22.3. It has,however, in addition, the top longitudinal strips 18.74 and tabs 18.741for the said strips. These tabs are secured to contact adhesive coatssuch as 14.31 and 30.31 (see FIGURES 3 and 4). The top longitudinalstrips are secured to coats such as 14.4 and 30.4 (see FIGURES 3 and 4).

By way of explanation, a coat of contact adhesive will t 4 not adhere toanything except another coat of contact adhesive. It is thus possible totransport panels in'bul-k in stacks in un'assembled form, as long as thecontact ad- [hesive coats do not come into contact with one anotheruntil assembly.

The applicant believes that the making of a container without nailsand'such that it has an appreciable cardboard content, brings aboutsignificant savings in material and labour.

I claim:

1. A container which includes (a) a cardboard composite panel comprisinga floor part and front and rear side walls integral therewith;

(b) a pair of longitudinally spaced end wall panels adhesively securedto the front and rear side walls, and which include at least some timberfor stiffness to permit stacking of loaded containers; and

(c) top longitudinal strips integral with the front and rear side walls,and adhering by contactadhesive to the upper faces at the ends of theend wall panels, the said top longitudinal strips having fold-over tabssecured adhesively to the outer side faces of the end wall panels.

2. A container which includes (a) a cardboard composite panel comprisinga floor part and front and rear side walls integral therewith; and

(b) a pair of longitudinally spaced end walls panels adhesively securedto the front and rear side walls, each of the said end walls including aperipheral timber framework sandwiched between sheets of cellulosicsheet material adhesively secured to such timber framework.

3. A container as claimed in claim 2, in which there is provided acenter panel spaced midway between the end wall panels, and including aperipheraltimber framework sandwiched between sheets of cellulosic sheetmaterial adhesively secured to such timber framework, the

center panel being adhesively secured to the floor part and to the frontand rear side walls.

4. A containerwhich includes (a) a cardboard composite panel comprisinga floor part and front and rear side walls integral therewith;

(b) a pair of longitudinally spaced end wall panels adhesively securedto the front and rear side walls, each of the said end walls including aperipheral timber framework sandwiched between sheets of cellulosicsheet material adhesively secured to such timber framework; and

(c) top longitudinal strips integral with the front and rear side walls,and adhering by contact adhesive to the upper faces at the ends of theend walls panels, the said top longitudinal strips having fold-over tabssecured adhesively to the outer side faces of the end wall panels. t

5. In the packing of agricultural produce, the metho which includes thesteps of (a) obtaining a plurality of premanufactured composite panelsand end wall panels, a composite panel comprising a floor part and frontand rear side walls integral therewith, and an end wall panel comprisinga peripheral timber framework sandwiched between sheets of cellulosicsheets material adhesively secured thereto, the composite panel havingcoats of contact adhesive extending transversely at the ends of theinner faces of the floor part and the front and rear side walls, and theend walls having coats of contact adhesive wholly along those threefaces around its periphery which are to engage with the floor part andthe front and rear side walls of the composite panel;

(b) making at a packing station, a plurality of containers as claimed inclaim 2, by taking for each container a composite panel andlocating endwall panels in position on the composite panel such that the coatedzones of contact adhesive on the composite panel and on the end wallpanels are in register;

(c) folding the front and rear side walls onto the ends of the end wallpanels such that the front and rear side walls are perpendicular to thefloor part, and of applying pressure to the panels across theregistering coated zones of adhesive to secure good adhesion; and

(d) thereafter packing produce into the containers.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Hothersall 229-23 Northway 229-23Peterson 229-23 Northway 229-23 Swaim 22923 10 DAVID M. BOCKENEK,Primary Examiner.

